Ramaphosa Was Wearing Monatic, to Make a Point and Get a Laugh
Ramaphosa Makes a Statement and Draws a Chuckle With Local Suit
(Bloomberg) -- South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa got a chuckle out of lawmakers when he described the locally made suit and tie he donned for his state-of-the-nation address but warned lawmakers about asking what else he was wearing.
The official opening of parliament, which comes after last month’s elections, is a red-carpet event that has most lawmakers arrive in expensive designer clothes and matching accessories, and is as closely followed for the president’s political speech as for its fashion fanfare, with South Africans taking to Twitter to voice their praise or horror at the lawmakers’ clothing choices.
Encouraging South Africans to buy local goods and help revive a moribund economy that contracted 3.2% in the first quarter, Ramaphosa pointed out that his suit, tie and shirt were all locally made in Cape Town, at a corporate-wear store that’s almost a century old and exports suits to the U.K.
Ramaphosa then cautioned lawmakers against letting their imaginations run wild on where he may have procured “other things” under the suit.
“We call on all South Africans to deliberately and consistently buy locally made goods,” he said. “Now, to demonstrate this, the suit that I am wearing today, the tie that I am wearing today, the shirt that I am wearing today - don’t get too ambitious and ask about other things.”
Still, Ramaphosa’s statement by wearing affordable, locally made clothes may show up his ruling-party comrades. While the African National Congress is steeped in revolutionary ideology from the time of the struggle against apartheid, many of its politicians are known for their designer suits, German cars and Breitling watches. That gave rise to the term Gucci socialists. Former Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba, now out of parliament, favored hand-tailored suits costing several thousand dollars apiece. And then of course there’s Police Minister Bheki Cele, known for his collection of fedoras.
For anyone who wants to emulate South Africa’s president, House of Monatic suits can be found here. You can get a suit for just over $200.
To contact the reporters on this story: Pauline Bax in Johannesburg at pbax@bloomberg.net;Amogelang Mbatha in Johannesburg at ambatha@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net
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